STEM and Huntsville pretty much goes together like chocolate and peanut butter. Among other things, it’s kind of what we’re known for in the Rocket City.

So it’s no surprise there are some amazing summer camps & programs that offer quality STEM-filled fun for kids – and in many case the kids don’t even realize they’re doing something educational! (#SneakySTEM) Just click on the orange links to learn more about each camp, and be sure to check out our entire 2016 Summer Camp Guide for even more options.

STEM Summer Camps

Summer Labs

Ages: Pre-K – 8th grade
Full-day program from 7AM – 5:30 PMAfterschool Labs has a slate of week-long camps to choose from, including coding, tinkering with gadgets, architecture, and more and any of their four locations in Huntsville.

Get Your LEGO on

Ages: Various
3-hour camps
Grab your favorite little brick builder and head to Bricks4Kids where they can do what they love best for hours at a time. There are a variety of camps to choose from: Minecraft, robotics, super heroes, dinosaurs, and architecture just to name a few.

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Work in an actual Biotech Lab at HudsonAlpha!

Camp Invention

Grades 1-6
Full-day program from 9AM – 3:30
Offered at both Moore’s Mill and Intermediate and West Madison Elementary Camp Invention isn’t just about taking apart broken appliances and playing with gadgets, nor is it your run-of-the-mill summer camp. This fun, inspiring camp teaches children critical thinking skills that will last a lifetime.

Pint-Sized Engineers

Ages: 4-14 Half day sessions
Attention Gamers! Video game design, robotics, and even mechanical engineering are all featured in these camps at four Huntsville locations. Engineering for Kids brings the wonder and excitement of STEM education through a variety of hands-on learning experiences.

Mind Gear Labs is a Tinkerer’s heaven!

Dynomite DNA

Ages: 6th – 9th Grades
Half-day Sessions
The HudsonAlpha Educational Outreach team provides several weeks of summer Biotechnology Camps for middle school students. These DNA, UDSO, and Biotech labs are facilitated by top-notch educators in their field and are sure to excite your rising Lab Coat.

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Minecraft Central & More!

Ages: 3rd Grade – High School
Half-day camps
Known for their epic Minecraft camps, MindGear Labs is offering SIX opportunities to explode some Creepers and build entire new worlds. Not only that, they are also hosting video game design, Scratch programming, toy making, LEGO robotics, and a camp just for tinkering with a Raspberry Pi, a standalone computer with incredible versatility. STEM heaven!

There are new Space Camp options this year!

Be an Astronaut for a Week

Ages: 9-18
Full-day and week-long options
The ultimate in STEM camp experiences, Space Camp has been hosting kids from across the country and around the world for decades! But did you know they also have Robotics Camps and Aviation Challenge too? If a week is too long for your aspiring astronaut, there are three-day and Day Camp options too. The whole family can get in on the fun with their Family Camps!

Rocket City Mom is a website about raising children in and around Huntsville, Alabama. Started in late 2010 by a local mom and newcomer to Huntsville, Rocket City Mom has grown into a thriving community of local parents and now boasts a staff of four, thirteen regular contributors, and tens of thousands of Tennessee Valley readers making it the #1 Parenting Resource in North Alabama.

I think it’s so important that kids get exposed to these types of activities at a young age. Rather than waiting for them to go to college and spend thousands of dollars before they even figure out what they want to study or what they want to do, let them experiment, shadow, and even fail doing different activities in different fields like this. I can think of no better thing for our kids and am excited to let mine participate in the years to come as they get older!